Ranking top 25 X's and O's coaches

Getty ImagesTom Izzo, Bob McKillop and Sean Miller are all very respected for their game-planning abilities.

We’ve already polled college basketball coaches for the most feared recruiters, both assistants and head coaches.

But now it’s time to look at the top X’s and O’s guys in the country, regardless of level. The coaches who scare their counterparts with their ability to diagram plays and have their players carry out those plays.

We polled about two-thirds (around 250) of the Division I head coaches, and some opted to vote more than once. There were more than 300 total votes cast and there was a clear separation at the top.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo was the runaway winner, with one of his Big Ten rivals finishing in second. Brad Stevens still received plenty of votes (14 in total) despite the fact that he’s now in the NBA, and former UCLA head man Ben Howland also got his share (four votes) even though he’s unemployed.

Izzo is known for his preparation and ability to get his players to execute. He recruits at a high level, but it’s not as though his program has produced a ton of high-level NBA players. He has won a national title and taken the Spartans to a half-dozen Final Four appearances. He’s 30-4 as the higher-seeded team in the NCAA tournament and 18-3 in the second game of a weekend NCAA contest.

Here are the top 25 X's and O's head coaches in college basketball (according to the head coaches), with a supporting quote from a peer for each.

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Jeff Goodman

Jeff Goodman joined ESPN in June of 2013 as a college basketball Insider. He was previously a senior basketball columnist at CBSSports.com from 2011 to 2013 and held a similar position at FOXSports.com from 2006 to 2011.

A native of Boston, Mass., Goodman grew up watching the old Big East, and his passion for college basketball grew when attending the University of Arizona -- despite the fact that the Wildcats went out in the first round of the NCAA tournament in three of his four years in Tucson. He worked for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, was a national writer for the Associated Press and was also a frequent contributor for several publications, including the USA Today, the Washington Post and the Boston Herald.

Goodman currently resides north of Boston with his wife and daughter. You can follow him on twitter at @GoodmanESPN.